JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Approximately 50 Soldiers with the Alaska Army National Guard’s 761st Military Police Battalion returned home to various parts of Alaska Aug. 30, after a nine-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON -- Sgt. 1st Class James Spoo, an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to the 716th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment, 17th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, deployed to Afghanistan three times in his career. As part of his job, Spoo had already been on more than 20 temporary duty assignments ranging from days to months, and was used to the routine.

KABUL, Afghanistan — It was just after 4 a.m., July 17. Many on the base at Kabul International Airport, and Forward Operating Base Oqab nearby, were still catching a last hour or two of sleep before the day would begin.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- In 1947, while the jet age was still in its infancy, military aviation hurtled into the future with the creation of the U.S. Air Force as a separate service. Six years later, on May 25, 1953, the Air Force’s official air demonstration team, designated the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit, was activated at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.